


Honoring and Returning

by CriticalDragon



Series: Critical’s HanMei week 2018 Fics [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/M, HanMei, Honoring, Hurt/Comfort, I REWROTE THIS, These two have so much in common, Very late submission to HanMei week, but eh, i love them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-14 07:38:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14131290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CriticalDragon/pseuds/CriticalDragon
Summary: Mei returns to Ecopoint: Antarctica, bringing along a certain archer.





	Honoring and Returning

**Author's Note:**

> Quick context is that this takes place 2 years after the events of Ecopoint Antarctica. 
> 
> Also a very late submission to HanMei week because I had decided to rewrite it. Sorry!

The two looked down at the Ecopoint base. 

To Hanzo, it was nothing but an abandoned facility, and a hole in the icy ground. 

To Mei, it was a calling of sorrowful memories. Flashbacks of her life here, which she treasured, flowed intensely through her mind. She silently slid her right hand into Hanzo’s left hand. The archer looked at the source of soft pressure on his hands then looked at Mei. 

“I hope you don’t mind....” She said nervously. Hanzo considered the circumstances. She was clearly in pain being here. So she needs comfort. He shook his head. He didn’t mind if it helped her cope. She gave a small, shy smile. 

But he felt like he did not belong here. That he felt no right to be with Mei on an important day that he had no importance to: The day she was released from cryostasis after almost a decade and was forgotten and stranded, all alone with her robot companion and her dead colleagues, still trapped within their stasis pods. 

But he didn’t go by choice. It was Mei who actually wanted him to go with her. He wanted to decline and have someone else go with her, but Winston just wanted him to watch her in case anything bad were to happen, and everyone else is busy on other missions, and on top of that, Mei had specifically requested Hanzo to go with her. So he really had no choice. 

She stepped forward to the icy ledge. Despite the memories that flowed within her, she smiled at Hanzo. Her eyes, however, were full of watery tears. “Come on. We can slide down. It’ll be fun.” 

He only nodded and slid down the ice to land on a near buried truck. Mei landed on the snow and let out a laugh. “Woo! That was fun!” She ran over to Hanzo, who brushed some snow off his coat. He jumped down from the truck. “You lead the way, Mei.” He said. 

Mei nodded. “Okay. First we’ll restore power. Luckily Winston still had some the batteries the ecopoint uses so we can take our time here. Come on.” She slid her hand back into Hanzo’s. 

Hanzo only nodded as Mei guided him through the abandoned base. They restored the power, all the lights flashing back on and the sound of distant power engines running. Mei guided him through the whole base, occasionally grabbing an item off one of the desks in the rooms and stuffing it into many of her coat’s pockets. 

On one of the desks, Hanzo saw and grabbed a picture. Mei smiled sadly when she saw him looking at the picture. It was a picture of her colleagues. “We took that when we first arrived here. It was great.” Mei sniffed. “I wish you could’ve met them. They were like family to me.” 

Hanzo kept looking the picture. “Family, hm?” He pondered back into his past life. Training in the clan, focused on nothing but becoming the next master of the now broken Shimada Clan. He dared to not look farther than that, as he would lose focus and drown only momentarily in his past. 

He put the picture into his pocket and turned to face Mei. “It would have been an honor to meet them. I... did not have much back in my past life to consider friends... they were rather connections the clan had. And I used them to wander the world.” Hanzo said. 

Mei said nothing, but gripped his hand. “C’mon, we should keep going.” He only nodded in agreement and followed with her. 

After touring through the ecopoint, they arrived at the entrance to the cryostasis pods. They stood together, the cold winds blowing through them. The girl sighed as her past memories flowed freely in her mind. 

Hanzo stepped back, releasing their held hands and stopping at the large radio tower behind them. Mei immediately turned around. He had a look of discomfort. 

“This is your honoring alone. I have no right to be with you. Go on. I will wait.” He said. 

He expected her to proceed into the room, but it’s his turn to be surprised when she ran towards him and gripped her hands into his left hand. She leaned into his shoulder, burying her face into it. She started to cry. 

_“不...请...不要离开我...我需要你...请留在我身边...”_ she spoke out in her native language. Hanzo understood some Mandarin, so he knew some of the words she said, but what he understood the most was her anguish. She needed someone to be with her. She couldn’t bear the memories alone. She doesn’t want to drown in tears of her past. But why him specifically? He only realized it as her pain cried out to him through her tears. He shares a similar pain. The memories of the clan, his young brother, his family. The pain of the past. Its numb to him now, but its hurting her, but she herself has numbed it by being her lovely self. Optimistic, always a smile on her face, her loving jokes. Now she wants to end it. She wants to move on. But she can’t do it alone. She needs him. Because he, in her eyes, has moved on from his past as well. He wrapped his free hand around her body and leaned into her. He lifted her head slightly, and kissed her forehead. Tightening his embrace around her, He closed the space between them. 

_“私はあなたを残すことはありません。約束します。”_ He whispered to her. She gasped and looked at him. 

The sight of her broke his heart. Her eyes were red from crying, and her cheeks were red as well. “Hanzo...” She said. 

Perhaps she understand what he said. He smiled and nodded at her. “Thank you.” She whispered softly to him. She sniffed, and tried to wipe her eyes, but it was Hanzo who used his right hand to wipe them. She gasped again, and smiled back at him. With their two linked hands, they walked inside the room. 

The echoes of her friends bellowed in her mind. Hopes from 11 years ago, of rescue. 

_“Overwatch will rescue us. I know they will.”_

_“We all have to remain hopeful in the face of uncertainty. Overwatch will rescue us, Zhou.”_

_“Well, time for a long nap. Or maybe a short one, who knows?”_

Mei felt like her mind was going back in time. But a squeeze from Hanzo’s hand quickly snapped her out of her stupor. She looked at him. 

“You are here, now in the present. Do not lose yourself in the past, because you are quite certain to miss the future. That is what you and Overwatch are fighting for, yes?” Hanzo said. 

She nodded vigorously. “You’re right.” How did he know what she is thinking about? Oh right. It’s written all over her face. 

Mei went forward and collected the coffee cups on the steps of the cryostasis pods. She emptied them out (they were basically ice cubes at this point) then refilled them up with fresh coffee and set them back on the pods. She kneeled alongside Hanzo, who was setting up the honoring ritual. 

He burned eight incense sticks and handed five to Mei. She held the sticks close to her, closing her eyes. 

“You may now say anything you need. Whether it be in your voice, or in your mind. Whenever you are ready.” Hanzo instructed, holding the remaining 3 incense sticks. 

Mei took a deep breath and began. She decided to keep everything in her mind. 

_My friends, I hope you guys have been watching me. Its been a while. I told you guys, I would take our hard work we uncovered to the world. And I’m happy to say that I’ve made progress! I’ve reconnected with Winston, he told me everything that has happened. Overwatch has disbanded, the other ecopoints around the world have been shut down, and well, the world has gone for the worse. But, in all of this, I’m not giving up. So, I decided to continue our work by gathering more data on the weather anomalies. I’m still analyzing the 9 years of data from when we were asleep. It’s a lot of valuable data, so Winston has been helping me. Speaking pf Winston, he initiated the Overwatch recall—yeah! Everyone’s coming back to Overwatch! Haha, a moment ago I told you guys Overwatch was disbanded, now its back in action! Haha!_

_I miss all you guys. You all were like my family. I’ll never forget you all—please keep watching me every single step of the way—I’ll keep protecting our world and environment—for the sake of the future! And... I won’t be alone. I’ll never be alone ever again—_

_Because I found someone I consider my hope and inspiration. Yes, I love someone. And, I’m right next to him. He was the one who helped me when I couldn’t stop crying because of what happened. And I’m forever grateful to him, and I think, just maybe, he may have the same feelings as I do._

“Hanzo,” she said, which caused him to look at her. Her eyes were filled with water wanting to tear down her face, but in all of that sadness, she showed her brightest smile to him. A smile through tears. “Say something to them.” She encouraged. 

A surprised look from Hanzo, but he decided to go along with it. He cleared his throat. 

“Greetings, I am Hanzo Shimada. I was formerly part of the Shimada Clan, the next heir to the master. But...some events had lead me to leave the clan and wander the world, searching for my lost honor. Eventually I had decided to join the reformed Overwatch to find my honor by doing some good. Now I stand here, with your friend, helping her honor you all. I would have been honored to have met you all. I hope you all may rest in peace, as I assure you Mei will finish the team’s work. I believe she will find the causes of the deteriorating ecosystems. She is a very brave woman. As for me, well,” Hanzo took out the picture of the Ecopoint crew and set it next to the incense stick holder. “I can only be looking forward to the future. Rest in peace.” He looked at Mei. She nodded, water freely flowing down her eyes.

_Thank you, my friends. Please keep watching over me, cause I’ll always remember you. Rest in peace, I will finish our work for the future!_

“I’m done, Hanzo.”  
He hummed in acknowledgement, and they finished their ritual, placing the incense sticks into the holder, and departed from the room.

Outside, Mei hugged Hanzo tightly. 

“Thank you...for staying for with me. I didn’t know what I would do if I were alone...” 

He hugged her back. “You would try your own method of honoring, if I were to take a guess.” 

“Really?” 

“I see that you value honor greatly, perhaps as much as I do. I respect that. You honor your fallen friends’ memories, and you use them to strengthen your resolve. It is...admirable.” 

Hanzo was complimenting her. Was this a dream? If it was her colleagues would be alive then. 

“What I said in the room, you are indeed a very brave woman. I expect nothing less from you, and so much more.” 

Mei nodded and smiled. “Thank you, Hanzo. I won’t disappoint you...or anyone else. But most importantly you!” She giggled. Her old self was returning. And that was what the archer wanted to see from her. 

He gave a chuckle. “Shall we return?” 

Mei gave a nod. “Yes. I’m all done here.” 

The two joined hands and departed the Ecopoint, to continue their fight for the future and past.


End file.
